Anna Tomczak Photography

For over 15 years artist Anna Tomczak has utilized the 20×24 camera to make hauntingly beautiful constructions. Drawing on a large personal collection of unique and eccentric artifacts Tomczak creates an assemblage that only exists in time long enough to be recorded on large format Polaroid film. These timeless compositions are heightened by her use of the Polacolor Image Transfer technique. This process interrupts the normal peel apart development by separating the negative from the positive film earlier than intended and placed instead in contact with wet watercolor paper. This technique mutes the color and softens the image, producing a more dreamlike and antique sensibility.

Tomczak says of her work: For many years I have collected iconic treasures, some are derived from old manuscripts, and others are from searching through antique markets or collections. Each one of these figures holds a different meaning, symbolic reference or spiritual influence for both myself as the artist and the viewer/interpreter. Frida Kalo’s beautiful yet tormented life came forth in the form of a partially connected puzzle for me in one of my photographs. Other visual interpretations represent the ongoing struggle and quality of a life, an ego, a spirit, a dance, a masterpiece lent by someone powerful enough to make a lasting impression on our lives. The Polaroid large format (20 x 24) transfer process lends a tactile quality to the photo imagery, and a one of a kind
work on paper. Through the transfer process, dyes from the negative are infused into Arches or Fabriano paper.